
CJ1S6 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 314 8014 9 



F 158 
.8 

.C2 B5 
Copy 1 



MPENTERS' HALL, 

(Chestnut Street, bet. 3rd and 4th.) 



'M 




p^ismoi^iG QQemoi^ies. 



BY Richard K. Betts. 



REVISED EDITION 

(One hundred and tenth Thousand.) 



# 



PUBLISHED BY THE COMPANY. 

1891. 



^1 



©ESIIIMONIAL. 



Dfi^OlVed, That the thanks of the Carpenters' 
i Company of the City and County of Phila- 
delphia^ he and are hereby tendered to 

I^IGHAI^D I^. BE^PTS, 

For compiling the excellent pamphlet for distri- 
bution to our Centennial visitors. 

Thos. F. Shuster, 

President. 

Walter Allison, 

Vice President. 

Geo. Watson, 

Secretary. 

PHILADELPHIA, 

January 17th, 1877. 



■k 



CARPENTERS' HALL, 

(Chestnut Street, bet. 3rd and 4th.) 




p^ISiPOr^IG 0}EMOr^IBS. 



BY Richard K. Betts. 



REVISED EDITION 

(One hundred and tenth Thousand.) 



PUBLISHED BY THE COMPANY. 

1891 



r 2 <^^ 



(SAI^PENJIIEI^S' Y}Ahh 

AND ITS 

r^ISmOI^IG fflEMOr^IES, 



When we survey this quaint old building, situ- 
ated at the head of Carpenters' Court, on Chestnut 
street, between Third and Fourth streets, and 
consider that when erected it stood beyond the 
outskirts of the city, we cannot but admire the 
public spirit of its founders. 

The Carpenters' Company, of the City and 
County of Philadelphia, is one of the oldest 
Associations of Pennsylvania, being instituted 
about forty years after the settlement of the pro- 
vince by William Penn, and maintaining an un- 
interrupted existence from the year 1724. Among 
its early members were many prominent in colo- 
nial history, and whose architectural tastes are 
impressed upon buildings that yet remain, memo- 
rials of that early day. 

The object of the Association, as expressed in 
its Act of Incorporation, was to obtain instruction 



in the science of architecture and to assist such 
of its members as should by accident be in need 
of support, and of the widows and minor children 
of such members. Yet matters pertaining to their 
business as Carpenters held an important place 
with them, as is evident by the establishment of 
a "Book of Prices" for the valuation of carpen- 
ter's work, "on the most equitable principles," so 
"that the workmen should have a fair recompense 
for their labor, and the owner receive the worth 
of his money." This system was declared to be 
"not inferior to any other in use in any city in 
his Majesty's dominions," and which is retained 
at the present time. It was not a sliding scale of 
prices, to which each member was bound to con- 
form, but fixed and unvarying. All carpenters 
were at liberty to work at such discounts off, or 
per cent, on, as they might agree to with their em- 
ployers, and as changes in the wages of workmen 
might necessitate. In its internal workings, the 
Company is in as active, vigorous life, as at any 
former period. It is " not beneficial, but benevo- 
lent." No one but a " Master Carpenter following 
the business" is eligible to membership. Any 
member, who through age or accident is incapac- 
itated to support himself, or the widow of any 
member left without adequate means for her sup- 
port, is placed upon the "list of annuitants," and 



receives a *' quarterly allowance " during life. A 
prudent care over its investments, and economical 
administrators of its estate has made its funds 
more than ample for its most benevolent action 
in these respects. , 

James Fortius, whom William Penn induced to 
come to his new city to " design and execute his 
proprietary buildings" was among the most active 
of its founders, being himself a member of " The 
Worshipful Company of Carpenters of London," 
founded in 1477. The armorial ensigna of this 
company are identical with those of that ancient 
body, the officers bore the same designations, and 
its declared objects, ceremonials and privileges 
were in futherance of the same ideas. At his 
death in 1736, he gave his choice collections of 
architectural works to his fellow members ; laying 
the foundation of their present valuable library. 

The original ''entrance money," four pounds 
sterling, led to the formation of rival associations, 
at a less fee of admission; those, possessing in- 
herent strength, soon saw their mistake, and "The 
Second Carpenters' Company" united with "their 
elder brethren" in 1752. The " Friendship Car- 
penters' Company" after several years negotiation 
were united with "their elder brethren" in 1786, 
each member paying into the funds the " original 
entrance money." 



The officers consisted of a Master, Assistants, 
and Wardens, and the meetings were occasionally 
held at their houses, but most generally at the 
"Masters," where the books belonging to their 
library were deposited. The records show an 
early attention to the erection of a Hall, but it 
was not until after an existence of forty years that 
these efforts were crowned with success. 

The Hall was erected in 1770, amid the excite- 
ment in the public mind occasioned by the per- 
sistent attempt of the "Mother country" to "bind 
the colonies in all cases whatsoever," which re- 
sulted in a general demand for a union of the 
colonies. 

The State House being used by the existing 
government, the Hall of the Company became the 
great centre of the gatherings of our patriotic 
citizens, whether to petition for a redress of griev- 
ances, or for the assertion of their rights. Almost 
all the " Town Meetings" of that eventful period 
were held on the lawn in front or within its walls. 
It began thus early to be used for civil purposes. 
The "town meeting" of 1774, demanding the con- 
vening of the Assembly, met therein, and sent 
therefrom their committee to Governor Penn, 
whose reply was read on their return that "he saw 
no necessity for calling the Assembly together," 
which was undauntedly met by the appointment 



of another deputation to " wait on the speaker of 
the Assembly and require a positive answer 
whether he would do it or not." 

Among the early events in the history of Car- 
penters' Hall, were the memorable sessions of the 
"Committee of the City and County of Philadel- 
phia," to initiate measures for calling a Provincial 
conference — to effect which an invitation was 
extended to the various counties of the Province, 
to meet the Philadelphia Committee in confer- 
ence on the 15th July then next following. On 
Fourth of July, (by a singular coincidence) 
1774, the latter appointed a sub-committee to 
prepare "instructions," which the then great 
leader of Constitutional Rights, John Dickinson, 
thought " a duty, in order to be ready for the Pro- 
vincial Committee when it should meet." This 
great "Provincial Committee," (so it Avas styled), 
pursuant to the call referred to, also met at Car- 
penters' Hall, and remained in session there till 
its important and effective labors were completed, 
July 22d, 1774. Its chairman was Thomas Will- 
ing; clerk, Charles Thomson. The members 
were from — 

Philadelphia.— John Dickinson, Peter Chevalier, Edward Penn- 
ington, Thomas Wharton, John Cox, Joseph Reed, Thomas Whar- 
ton, Jr., Samuel Erwin, Thomas Fitzsimmons,Dr. William Smith, 
Isaac Howell, Adam Hubley, George Schlosser, Samuel Miles, 
Thomas Mifflin, Christopher Ludwick, Joseph Moulder, Anthony 



8 

Morris, Jr., George Gray, John Nixon, Jacob Barge, Thomas Pen- 
rose, John M. Nesbit, Jonathan B. Smith, James Mease, Thomas 
Barclay, Benjamin Marshall, Samuel Howell, William Moulder, 
John Roberts, John Bayard, William Rush. 

Bucks. — John Kidd, Henry Wynkoop, Joseph Kirkbride, John 
Wilkinson, James Wallace. 

Chester. — Fran. Richardson, Elisha Price, John Hart, Anthony 
Wayne, Hugh Lloyd, John Sellers, Francis Johnson, Richard 
Reiley. 

Lancaster. — George Ross, James Webb, Joseph Ferree, Matthias 
Slough, Emmanuel Carpenter, William Atlee, Alexander Lowrey, 
Moses Erwin. 

York. — James Smith, Joseph Donaldson, Thomas Hartley. 

Cumberland. — James Wilson, Robert Magaw, William Ervine. 

Berks. — Edward Biddle, Daniel Brodhead, Jonathan Potts, 
Thomas Dundas, Christopher Schultz. 

Northampton. — William Edmunds, Peter Keichlein, John Oke- 
ley, Jacob Arndt. 

Northumberland. — William Scull, Samuel Hunter. 

Bedford. — Gegrge Woods. 

Westmoreland. — Robert Hannah, James Carrett. 

This list is given, since it is rarely to be met 
with, and includes the names of those who formed 
the second link (the Non-Importation Resolutions 
of 1765, of the merchants of Philadelphia, being 
the first) in the local efforts to assert Constitutional 
rights. This committee, "in a body, waited upon 
the Assembly then sitting " at the State House, 
and presented the " Instructions" to appoint dele- 
gates to represent Pennsylvania in the intended 
Congress, and to require them, for and on behalf 
of the citizens of this Province " strenuously to 



9 

exert themselves to obtain a renunciation on the 
part of Great Britain of all powers of internal 
legislation for America, or of imposing taxes, &c., 
and a repeal of every statute affecting the Prov- 
ince of Massachusetts Bay, ]3assed in the last ses- 
sion of Parliament." 

These "Instructions," with the argumentative 
part upon which they were predicated, were es- 
teemed so admirable as to elicit a formal vote of 
thanks to their author, John Dickinson, rendered 
publicly from the chair, " for the application of 
his eminent abilities to the service of his country." 

The Assembly, by vote the day following, com- 
plied with these instructions, and appointed dele- 
gates to the "First American Congress." 

It has been asked, why did these most important 
conferences hold their sessions in Carpenter's 
Hall? Why did Congress meet there instead of 
the State House? It was well understood in 
1774, the Governor feared the effect of the 
patriotic movements upon his interests in the 
Province, and his influence and authority were 
exercised in opposition to them. We cannot enter 
into the feelings of these patriotic men as they 
stood with their lives in their hands. John 
Dickinson, the great leader and advocate of Con- 
stitutional rights, was appealed to by his friends 
to pause; it was confidently asserted, "you will 



10 

be hanged, your estate will be forfeited and con- 
fiscated, you will leave your amiable wife a widow, 
and your charming children orphans, beggars, 
infamous, because of your doings." When the 
use of Carpenter's Hall was asked for, the Com- 
pany was convened to consider it, and the minutes 
of that meeting show that they felt the responsi- 
bility of their doings. The Royalist warned them 
of the confiscation of their Hall, and "that their 
necks might be inconveniently lengthened." The 
names of all present were carefully kept off the 
record, and it simply says "on the question being 
put, 'shall they be allowed to meet here?' voted 
that they shall." It was not until Governor Penn 
fully realized that the sceptre of power had already 
slidden from his grasp, and from motives of policy 
that he consented to be the bearer of the petition 
of Congress to the King. In his examination 
before the House of Lords, Nov. 10, 1775, in which 
he is pleased to style himself "the bearer of an 
olive branch" from America, he clearly manifests 
his fear that the Americans would adopt "the 
desperate resolution of calling in the aid of foreign 
assistance." After he sailed for England, there 
was no difficulty in using the State House. 

In his examination before the House of Lords, 
the queries were j^ut by the Duke of Richmond. 
Among the queries and replies were: — 



11 

Was he personally acquainted with all the 
members of Congress? 

He was personally acquainted with them. 

In what estimation were the Congress held ? 

In the highest veneration imaginable by all 
ranks and orders of men. 

Was an implicit obedience rendered to the re- 
solves of Congress? 

He believed that was the case. 

How many men had been raised in the province 
of Pennsylvania? 

Twenty thousand effective men. 

Of what rank, quality or condition were they? 

Men of the most respectable character in the 
province. 

Were they capable of making gunpowder ? 

They perfectly understood it. 

Could they make saltpetre? 

It was done with success. 

Were the Americans expert in shipbuilding ? 

More so than the Europeans. 

Did the witness think that the language of Con- 
gress expressed the sense of the people? 

As far as Pennsylvania was concerned he was 
certain it was the case. 

Did the Delegates to Congress fully represent 
the wishes of the people? 

He had no doubt of it. 



12 

In case a formidable force was sent to America 
did the witness imagine there were many who 
would openly submit to the authority of Parlia- 
ment? 

The number would be too fcAV to be of any con- 
sequence. 

The members of Congress gathered at the Mer-= 
chants Coffee House on Second street above Wal- 
nut, and on the morning of the 5th of September, 
1774, walked in a body to Carpenters' Hall, the 
scene of their future deliberations, and " conscious 
of the impending perils of the movement," re- 
solved "that all their deliberations should be kept 
inviolably secret," except such as they should re- 
solve to publish. It was said of this Congress 
that "it is the grandest and most important 
assembly ever held in America, and that the all 
of America is entrusted to it and depends upon 
it. A body of greater men, of purer impulses, of 
nobler aims, or devoted patriotism, never met 
together or crowned a nation's annals. 

A distinguished Frenchman said : " With what 
grandeur, with what enthusiasm should I not 
speak of those generous men, who erected this 
grand edifice; by their patience, their wisdom, 
and their courage; the actors in this affecting 
scene. Their names shall be transmitted by a 
happier pen than mine. In remembering them 



13 



shall the friend of freedom feel his heart palpitate 
with joy. Heroic country! My last breath shall 
be to Heaven an ejaculation for thy posterity." 

Thus, in Carpenters' Hall, began that series of 
deliberations which resulted on the 4th of July, 
1776, in declaring the colonies "free and inde- 
pendent." Peyton Randolph was elected Presi- 
dent, and Charles Thomson, though not a mem- 
ber of Congress, because of his acknowledged 
ability, was chosen Secretary. He held that posi- 
tion in the Assembly of Pennsylvania. At the 
passage of the Stamp Act, Franklin, who was 
agent for the colony, wrote from London, detail- 
ing its provisions, closed his letter with "The sun 
of Liberty is set, you must light up the candles 
of industry and economy." Thomson evinced 
his patriotic devotion and far-seeing vision by 
declaring, in reply, " Be assured, my dear sir, that 
we shall light up torches of quite another sort." 
The members of this Congress were from— 

New Hampshire.— John Sullivan, Nathaniel Folsom. 

Massachusetts.— Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, 
Robert Treat Paine. 

Rhode Island.— Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward. 

Connecticut.— Eliphsilei Dyer, Roger Sherman, Silas Deane. 

Neto JbrZ;.— Isaac Law, John Alsop, John Jay, James Duane, 
William Floyd, Henry Wisner, S. Boerum, Philip Livingston. 

New Jersey.— James Kinsey, William Livingston, Stephen 
Crane, Richard Smith, John De Hart. 



14 

Pennsylvania. — Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson, Charles 
Hum])hreys, Thomas Mifflin, Edward Biddle, John Morton, 
George Boss. 

Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean, George Read. 

Maryland. — Robert Goldsborough, Matthew Tilghman, Thomas 
Johnson, William Paca, Samuel Chase. 

Virginia. — Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Wash- 
ington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Ed- 
mund Pendleton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, Richard Cas- 
well. 

South Carolina. — Henry Middleton, Thomas Lynch, Christo- 
pher Gadsen, John Rutledge, Edward Rutledge. 

The chairs occupied by the officers of this Con- 
gress still stand upon the platform, and those in 
which Washington and his compeers sat are around 
the Speaker's desk. The first question was "how 
shall we vote ?" The larger colonies were unwilling 
to be on an equality with the smaller ones. Major 
Sullivan, of Rhode Island, said "a little colony has 
its all at stake as well as a large one." Lynch said 
"it ought to be a compound of property and num- 
bers." Rutledge said " we have no legal authority, 
our constituents are not bound by our acts." Lee 
observed " we are not provided with materials to 
decide." Gadsen said, "I cannot see any way of 
voting but by colonies." Ward said, " there are a 
great number of counties in Virginia, very un- 
equal in wealth and numbers, yet each sends two 
representatives." Pendleton thought "if a com- 



15 

mittee cannot ascertain the weight of the Colonies. 
Congress can take steps to procure evidence." Jay 
remarked " he was in favor of giving Virginia her 
full weight." 

It had been intimated that "Virginia will never 
consent to waive her full representations," and if 
denied it, "she would be seen no more in that 
Congress." On no one thing did they seem to 
agree ; some were willing to acknowledge the right 
of Great Britain to regulate trade ; others denied 
all right to legislate for America ; some were will- 
ing to pay for the tea destroyed ; others said that 
was to yield the point entirely ; one was defiant, 
another willing to conciliate. Gadsen desired in- 
dependence. Washington believed that "no re- 
flecting mind looked forward to such a thing." 
With this diversity of sentiment, Congress ad- 
journed its first day's session. The next day it 
was opened by reading the preliminary minutes. 
A silence ensued as of the stillness of death. The 
patriots sat side by side, and face to face, until 
that stiUness became oppressive. The seeming 
irreconcilable diff'erences of the previous day, 
filled their hearts with gloomy forebodings that 
they were to be separated without accomplishing 
any one object for which they had met, and with 
such separation, vanished all available struggles 
for the rights of the Colonies. The fate of human- 



16 

ity for generations to come, the hopes of the 
patriot and statesman were in the doubtful bal- 
ance ; each heart was too full for utterance, when 
Patrick Henry slowly arose, in a far off part of 
the Hall, and hesitatingly broke the silence. He 
calmly reviewed the wrongs of his country, until 
warming with his subject, his cheek glowed, 
his eye flashed, and his voice, rich and strong, 
rang through and filled the Hall. He counselled 
a union for general defence, and went beyond the 
utterances of Gadsen : he said, "this is but the 
first general Congress and no former one can be a 
precedent; we shall have occasion for more Con- 
gresses — Government is dissolved. Fleets and 
armies and the present state of things show that 
government is dissolved. Where are your land- 
marks? your boundaries of colonies? We are 
in a state of nature, sir, all lines are gone, and 
all America is one mass, the distinction between 
Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and 
New Englanders are no more. I am not a Vir- 
ginian, but an American." 

Thomas Cushing immediately proposed that 
Congress should be opened with prayer. Jay, of 
New York, and Rutledge, of South Carolina, 
opposed it, because " we were so divided in religi- 
ous sentiment, some Episcopalians, some Quakers, 
some Baptists, some Independents, some Catholics, 



17 

some Presbyterians, and some Congregationalists, 
that we could not join in the same kind of wor- 
ship." Samuel Adams immediately rose and said, 
"I am no bigot, I can hear a prayer from any 
man of piety and virtue who is at the same time 
a friend to his country. I am a stranger in Phila- 
delphia, but have heard that Mr. Duche, an Epis- 
copalian clergyman of this city deserves that 
character. I move that he may be requested to 
read prayers to Congress to-morrow morning." 
The motion was carried affirmatively. President 
Randolph waited upon him, and received the 
assurance that "if health permitted he would 
gladly accede to the wishes of Congress." The 
next morning attended by his clerk, he entered 
the hall, read prayers in the established form, and 
the psalter for that day, (which was the 35th 
Psalm) and unexpectedly to every one broke forth 
into extempore prayer, with such ardor, such 
fervor, such pathos, and in language so elegant 
and sublime : praying for America, for Congress, 
for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and espe- 
cially for the town of Boston." This was the 
morning that Congress was informed of the can- 
nonade of Boston. 

It was a scene worthy of the painter's art, 
Washington Avas kneeling there, and Henry, Ran- 
dolph, Rutledge, Lee, and Jay •. and by their sides 



18 

stood, bowed in reverence, the Puritan patriots of 
New England, who, at that moment had reason 
to believe that an armed soldiery were wasting 
their humble households ; and who can realize the 
emotions with which they turned imploringly to 
Heaven for Divine interposition and aid. " It 
was," says a letter written on the 16th instant, 
"enough to melt a heart of stone, I never saw a 
greater effect upon an audience, it filled the bosom 
of every man present. I saw the tears gush into 
the eyes of the old grave pacific Quakers of Phila- 
delphia." 

It is cause of deep regret that no memorandum 
of this prayer was taken, and that we are indebted 
to the letters quoted above for all we know of it. 
The printed prayer sold to the public as the " First 
prayer," was never delivered in Carpenters' Hall, 
but before a succeeding Congress, and after there 
was an army "in the field." Congress resolved 
that each colony should have one vote. 

One of the memorable resolves of that Con- 
gress was an address to the people of Great 
Britian, adopted October 21st, 1774, in which they 
say : " But if you are determined that your min- 
isters shall wantonly sport with the rights of man- 
kind — if neither the voice of Justice, the dictates 
of the Law, the principles of the Constitution, or 
the suggestions of humanity, can restrain your 



19 

hands from shedding human blood in such an 
impious cause; we must then tell you, that Ave 
will never submit to be hewers of wood, or drawers 
of water for any ministry or nation in the world." 

The tone of manly energy which characterized 
the papers put forth by this Congress, drew this 
acknowledgment from a distinguished member of 
the British Parliament. "When your lordships 
have perused the papers transmitted to us from 
America; when you consider the dignity, the 
firmness, and the wisdom with which the Ameri- 
cans have acted, you cannot but respect their 
cause. History, my lords, has been my favorite 
study ; and, in the celebrated writings of antiquity, 
I have often admired the patriotism of Greece and 
Rome; but, my lords, I must declare and avow 
that in the master states of the world, I know not 
the people nor the senate, who, in such a compli- 
cation of difficult circumstances, can stand in pre- 
ference to the delegates of America, assembled in 
general Congress at Philadelphia. I trust that it 
is obvious to your lordships, that all attempts to 
impose servitude on such men, to establish des- 
potism over such a mighty continental nation, 
must be vain, must be futile." 

In an address to the inhabitants of the Colonies 
of the same date, they say : " But we think our- 
selves bound in duty to observe to you, that the 



schemes agitated against these Colonies have been 
so conducted as to render it prudent that you 
should extend your views to mournful events, and 
be, in all respects, prepared for any contingency. 
Above all things, we earnestly entreat you, with 
devotion of spirit, penitence of heart, and amend- 
ment of life, to humble yourselves and implore 
the favor of Almighty God; and we fervently 
beseech his Divine goodness to take you into his 
gracious protection." 

On the 20th of October, they adopted resolu- 
tions which were virtually the commencement of 
the American union, they were signed on a table 
in the Hall by all the delegates for themselves 
and their constituents. They say: "We do for 
ourselves and the inhabitants of the several colo- 
nies whom we represent, firmly agree and associate, 
under the sacred ties of virtue, honor and love of 
country." The resolution bound them not to 
import, purchase, or consume the products of 
Great Britain until the obnoxious acts of Parlia- 
ment were repealed; and directing the appoint- 
ment of " a committee in every county, city and 
town by those Avho are qualified to vote for repre- 
sentatives in the Legislature," that persons who 
should "violate the resolutions might be publicly 
knovrn and universally contemned as enemies of 
American liberty." Though these resolutions 



2i 

possessed no legal force, yet never were laws more 
faithfully observed. 

It is worthy of note that the Bill of Rights 
adopted by this Congress, and their summary of 
the violations of those rights w^ere, two years after- ' 
ward recapitulated in the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

There was a chivalrous disregard of self, in the 
prompt and energetic approbation of the measures 
of Massachusetts, which history rarely discloses 
among a temperate and calculating people ; and 
in approval of the resolutions of the County of 
Suffolk, "that no obedience was due from that 
province to such acts, but should be rejected as 
the attempt of a wicked administration to enslave 
America." 

In Carpenters' Hall, also, met on 18th of June, 
1776, a convention which exercised a controlling 
influence on the question of Independence. 

The Assembly of Pennsylvania had appointed 
their delegates under the following " instructions :" 

" We strictly enjoin you, that you, on behalf of 
this Colony, desist from and utterly reject, any 
proposition, should such be made, that may cause, 
or lead to a separation from our Mother Country 
or a change in the form of government." Hence 
che delegates of Pennsylvania did not give their 
votes in Congress "for establishing government 



22 

throughout the continent on the authority of the 
people only," which Congress had recommended 
on the loth of May, preceding. 

Richard Henry Lee, had, on the 7th of June, 
introduced his celebrated resolutions for a separa- 
tion, and the Pennsylvania delegation were under 
these instructions bound to oppose them. This 
"Provincial Conference" met. It was composed 
of representatives from all the counties of the 
Province, and was presided over by Thomas 
McKean; it had as members, Benjamin Franklin, 
Benjamin Rush, Jona. B. Smith, Henry Wynkoop, 
James Smith, Alexander Lowry, Joseph Heister, 
John Creigh, and some ninety others. 

This Provincial Conference resolved that the 
present government of the Province was not com- 
petent for the exigencies of our affairs. 

That the present House of Assembly was not 
elected for the purpose of forming a new govern- 
ment. 

That the present House of Assembly, not having 
the authority of the people for that purpose, can- 
not proceed without assuming arbitrary powers. 

That a Provincial Convention be held for the 
express purpose of forming a government in the 
Province, on the authority of the people only. 

That we will support the measures now adopted 



at all hazards, be the consequences what they may. 

Besides complying Avith the purposes for which 
they had been assembled, they patriotically deter- 
mined to act for their constituents. 

On Sunday, the 23d of June, 1776, a committee, 
consisting of Dr. Benjamin Rush, Col. Joseph 
Small, and Col. Thomas McKean, were appointed 
to draft a resolution declaring the sense of the 
Conference with respect to the independence of 
the Province from the crown of Great Britain, and 
to report next morning. 

On Monday morning, the 24th of June, the 
Committee brought in a draft of a Declaration of 
Independence for the Colony of Pennsylvania, 
which was read by special order, and being fully 
considered was unanimously agreed to, in the fol- 
lowing words : 

Whereas, George the III, King of Great Britain, <fec., in viola- 
tion of the principles of the British Constitution, and of the laws 
of justice and humanity, hath, by an accumulation of oppressions 
unparalled in history, excluded the inhabitants of this, with the 
other Colonies, from his protection. 

And whereas. He hath no regard to our numerous and dutiful 
petitions for a redress of our complicated grievances, but hath 
lately purchased foreign troops to assist in enslaving us, and hath 
excited the savages of this country to carry on a war against us, 
and also the negroes to imbue their hands in the blood of their 
masters, in a manner unpractised by civilized nations, and hath 
lately insulted our calamities by declaring that he will show us 
no mercy until he hath reduced us. 



24 

And whereas, The obligations of allegiance, being reciprocal 
between a king and his subjects, are noAv dissolved, on the side of 
the Colonists, by the despotism of the said king, in as much that 
it now appears that loyalty to him is treason against the people of 
this country. 

And whereas. Not only the Parliament, but there is reason to 
believe many of the jieople of Great Britain, have connived at the 
aforesaid arbitrary and unjust proceedings against us. 

And whereas, The public virtue of the Colony so essential to 
its liberty and happiness, must be endangered by a future political 
union with or dependence upon a crown and nation so lost to 
justice, patriotism, and magnanimity. We, the deputies of the 
people of Pennsylvania, assembled in full Provincial Conference 
for forming a plan for executing the resolve of Congress of the 15th 
cf May last, for suppressing all authority in this province derived 
from the crown of Great Britain, and for establishing a govern- 
ment on the authority of the people only, now, in this public man- 
ner, in behalf of ourselves, and with the approbation, consent, and 
authority of our constituents, unanimously declare our willingness 
to concur in a vote of Congress declaring the United Colonies Free 
and Independent States, provided the forming the govornment 
and the regulation of the internal affairs of this Colony be always 
reserved to the people of this Colony; and we do further call upon 
the nations of Europe, and appeal to the Great Arbiter and gov- 
ernor of. the empires of this world, to witness for us, that this 
Declaration Act does not originate in ambition or in an impatience 
of lawful authority, but that we Avere driven to it in obedience to 
the first principles of nature, by the oppressions and cruelties of 
the aforesaid king and Parliament of Great Britain, as the only 
possible measure that was left us to preserve and establish our 
liberties and to transmit them inviolate to our posterity. 

It was signed by eighty-five deputies, and de- 
livered by their President to Congress. The}^ also 
patriotically determined to act for their constitu 



25 

ents, and to instruct the Pennsylvania delegates 
in Congress to concur in declaring the United 
Colonies Free and Independent States, and to 
disregard " instructions" from the Assembly, which 
resolution they also formerly transmitted to Con- 
gress. In prompt response to the call of this 
Conference, assembled the " Convention of 1776" 
to frame a Constitution for the Independent State 
of Pennsylvania. 

Congress adopted the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence on the 4th of July, and on the 15th of the 
same month this convention in Carpenters' Hall 
ratified the action of Congress, and adopted a con- 
stitution which served as the fundamental law of 
the land throughout the Revolution, and until 
after the adoption of the Constitution of the 
United States. In an address to his fellow citizens 
on the action of this convention, the chairman, 
Thomas McKean, said : " It is now in your power 
to immortalize your names by mingling your 
achievements with the events of the year 1776 — a 
year which we hope will be famed in the annals 
of history to the end of time, for establishing 
upon a lasting foundation the liberation of one 
quarter of the globe." Thus, in Carpenters' Hall, 
was prefigured the great Magna Charta of our 
liberties. 

The use of Carpenters' Hall for the popular 



26 

cause was almost continuous, and when the next 
Congress convened at the State House, the Com- 
mittees of that body and their most important 
"Committee of Safety" held their secret meetings 
within its walls. That Congress, though meeting 
in the State House, assembled in Carpenters' Hall 
to proceed in a body to the funeral of their de- 
ceased President, Peyton Randolph, October, 1775. 
The Committee in charge of his obsequies placed 
his remains there for the last sad look of his fel- 
low patriots and friends. 

Christopher Marshall, in his diary, under date 
of October 24th, 1775, says: " Past two, went and 
met part of Committee at Coffee House, and from 
thence went in a body to Carpenters' Hall, in 
order to attend the funeral of Peyton Randolph, 
(the first President of the first Continental Con- 
gress), who had departed this life suddenly after 
dinner, last First day, at the country house of 
Richard Hill : then proceeded to Christ Church, 
where a sermon was preached by Jacob Duche; 
then to Christ Church burial ground. 

Among those whose manhood early appeared 
in a protest against the Church and State govern- 
ment of the early New England Colonies were the 
Baptists. Holding among themselves all that was 
great in Puritanism, a manly endurance of perse- 
cution, they submitted to imprisonment and death. 



27 

When the opposition to Great Britain stirred 
up a manly advocacy of liberty in the land, Mr. 
Backus, the agent of the "Warren Baptist Asso- 
ciation," and the suffering churches he repre- 
sented, thought it a proper opportunity to appeal 
to Congress for relief in their afflictions. He, 
therefore, came to Philadelphia in the early fall 
of 1774. The Philadelphia Baptist Association 
was in session ; he laid before them a statement 
of the sufferings of their New England brethren. 
He and James Manning prepared a memorial to 
lay before Congress, and the support and assist- 
ance of all the sects not dominant in those 
Provinces solicited. To this responded particu- 
larly the Quakers, who, although controlling 
Pennsylvania, were especially obnoxious to the 
New Englanders. A conference between them 
and the Baptist Committee was held at the office 
of Robert Strettle Jones, a distinguished lawyer 
of the day. 

It was finally concluded that before addressing 
a memorial to Congress a meeting with the dele- 
gates from New England should be had, and upon 
this resulted a session in Carpenters' Hall, on the 
14th of October, 1774, a day worthy of com- 
memoration. 

All friends oi religious liberty, in or out of Con- 
gress, were invited. John Adams, surly and in- 
dignant, Samuel Adams, Thomas Cushing, and 



28 

Robert Treat Paine appeared for Massachusetts. 
The Catholics of Maryland were represented by 
Charles Carroll, of Carrolton, and his colleagues. 
Even cavalier and episcopal Virginia appeared. 

From New Jersey, James Kinsey ; from Rhode 
Island, Stephen Hopkins and Samuel Ward; from 
Pennsylvania, Joseph Galloway and Thomas 
Mifflin represented the sympathies of their con- 
stituents with the motives of the conference. The 
Quakers were particularly strong in the represen- 
tation of Israel and James Pemberton, and John 
Fox, while the Baptists stood forth with the 
proud representation of President Manning, of 
Rhode Island College, Robert Strettle Jones, and 
Mr. Samuel Davis. 

The discussion was earnest, the grievances of 
the Baptists and Friends in Massachusetts were 
warmly commented on ; the conference lasted 
until after eleven o'clock at night. Manning and 
Backus presented the cause of their suffering 
brethren. John Adams, in his diary discourses 
with the earnestness of the Puritan and the 
Federalist concerning this conference. Quoting 
from his diary : "I arose and said that the 
laws of Massachusetts were the most mild and 
equitable establishment of religion that was 
known in the world. That the people of Massa- 
chusetts were as religious and conscientious as the 
people of Pennsylvania ; that the very liberty of 



conscience which Mr. Pemberton invoked, would 
make them preserve their laws ; that they might 
as well try to turn the heavenly bodies out of their 
course, as the people of Massachusetts from their 
meeting house and Sunday laws." The principal 
speaker appears to have been Israel Pemberton, 
the Quaker, who, noting the grievances of his sect 
and others in Massachusetts Bay, John Adams 
accuses of Jesuitism. Says Adams : " I responded 
to him with great heat, not willing to hear my 
people thus attacked, and declared that in Massa- 
chusetts was and ever had been the purest political 
liberty known." 

Then, says a record of the period, up rose 
Israel Pemberton: "John, John," he said, "dost 
thou not know of the time when Friends were 
hung in thy colony, when Baptists were whipped 
and hung, and finally when Edward Shippen, a 
great merchant of Boston was publicly whipped 
because he would not subscribe to the belief of 
thee and thy fathers, and was driven to the colony 
of which he afterward became governor? Pray 
don't urge liberty of conscience in favor of such 
laws." 

The conference ended in nothing at that time, 
but the struggle for religious liberty thus begun 
in Carpenters' Hall, was not abandoned or for- 



30 

gotten. The Catholics of Maryland, the Friends 
of Pennsylvania, and the Baptists of Rhode 
Island and New England never lost sight of it, 
and the cause grew until its principles were em- 
bodied in the Federal compact, and to-day exist 
in the constitution of every State of the Union 
but one.* 

When the British took possession in 1777, of 
the city of Philadelphia, a portion of their army 
was quartered in the Hall, and continued there 
during the time they occupied the city. The 
soldiers made a target of the vane on the cupalo, 
and several holes were drilled through it by their 
bullets. 

The early movement for the encouragement of 
American industries is identified with Carpenters' 
Hall. A public meeting of citizens was held at 
the Hall, and subscriptions made for that object. 
The following is from the papers of that day : 

" The subscribers towards a fund for establishing 
and carrying on American manufacture of linens, 
woolens, &c., are requested to meet at Carpenters' 
Hall, on 5th day next, the 16th inst, at 3 o'clock 
in the afternoon, to consider a plan for carrying 
the same into execution." They organized. The 
chairman on taking his seat said : " Poverty, with 
all its other evils, has joined with it in every part 
of Europe all the miseries of slavery. America 

*On the anniversary of this occasion in 1874, "The Baptist Association" 
prepared a minute to commemorate these eflforts, and a committee with 
many others repaired to Carpenters' Hall, where, after prayer and singing 
"My Country 'tis of Thee," they read an account of this meeting where 



31 

is now the only asylum for liberty in the whole 
world. By establishing manufactories we stretch 
forth a hand from the ark and invite the timid 
manufacturer to come in. By bringing manu- 
facturers into this land of liberty and plenty, we 
remove them from the state in which they existed 
in their own country, and place them in circum- 
stances to enable them to become husbands and 
fathers, and add to the general tide of human 
happiness. In closing the imports from Great 
Britain, the wisdom of Congress cannot be too 
much admired. A people who are entirely de- 
pendent on foreigners for food and clothing must 
always be subject to them. That poverty, confine- 
ment, and death are trifling evils compared with 
that total depravity of heart which is connected 
with slavery. By becoming slaves we shall lose 
every principle of virtue; we shall transfer an 
unlimited obedience from our Maker to a corrupt 
majority of the British House of Commons, and 
shall esteem their crimes the certificate of their 
divine right to govern us. We shall cease to look 
upon the Court and Ministry — harpies who hover 
around the liberties of our country — with detesta- 
tion; we shall hug our chains and cease to be 
men." 

In 1787 the United States Commissary General 
of Military Stores occupied the Hall, and from 

religious liberty was laid before members of the Congress; then all united 
in fervent prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God for what had been 
accomplished in the past century, and sang the hymn "Praise God from 
whom all blessings flow." 



32 

1773 to 1790 the books of the Philadelphia Library, 
then the nucleus only of the magnificent collection 
which now exists, were deposited in the second 
story. 

In 1787, sundry deputies of the convention to 
frame a Constitution for the United States appeared 
at the State House, but a majority not being pres- 
ent, adjourned from day to day. A quorum 
having arrived, they held their sessions from that 
time in "The Carpenters' Hall," where "they 
jieliberated with closed doors, and at the end of 
four months agreed upon a Constitution for the 
United States of America," making the Carpenters' 
Hall memorable both for the first united effort to 
obtain a redress of grievances from the Mother 
Country, and the place where the Fathers of the 
Republic changed by the Constitution a loose 
league of separate States into a powerful nation. 

The Hall has also been largely used for public 
purposes. During the Revolution it was partly 
used by the Commissary General of Military 
Stores, and a temporary building erected by him 
for a brass foundry and file cutting shop, and at 
times by the Barrack Master. 

In 1791 the first Bank of the United States 
transacted its banking business there for upwards 
of six years, and upon their removal to their new 
banking house (now the Girard Bank), after which 



the "Bank of the State of Pennsylvania" occu- 
pied it until they erected their banking house 
on Second street. 

The United States occupied it for their Land 
Office for a short period, when the business of the 
Custom House was removed to it, and it continued 
as such about fourteen years, until the incorpora- 
tion of the second Bank of the United States, when 
the United States surrendered it by agreement. 
That institution occupied it until the completion 
of their own building on Chestnut street (now the 
Custom House) in 1821. 

On the removal of the Bank, the Apprentices' 
Library had their collection on the second story 
for about seven years, after which the Franklin 
Institute occupied the Hall, and held the first 
exhibition of domestic manufactures ever offered 
to the American public, dn the same Hall where 
its advocates first assembled more than fifty years 
previously. 

They occupied it about seven years, and on 
their removal, John Willitts, a popular teacher, 
taught the higher branches of an English educa- 
tion to large classes. In 1827, it was used for the 
purposes of public worship by the Society of 
Friends until the erection of their new meeting- 
house on Cherry street. After many changes in 



34 

its uses it finally became the busy scene of an 
auction mart. 

A visitor in 1829, from Virginia, pens this beau- 
tiful tribute: "I write this from the celebrated 
Carpenters' Hall, a structure that will ever be 
deemed sacred while national liberty is cherished 
on earth. It is of brick, surmounted with a low 
steeple. The lower room in which the First Con- 
gress of the Colonies met comprehends the whole 
area of the building. Above are the committee 
rooms. These sublime apartments first resounded 
with the indignant murmurs of our immortal 
ancestors, sitting in secret consultation upon the 
wrongs of their countrymen. In this hallowed 
Hall the august assembly to which they belonged 
daily convened. The building, it is gratifying to 
add, still belongs to the Society of Carpenters, 
who will by no means part with it, or consent to 
any alterations. It was here that the ground work 
of our Independence was laid ; for here it was, on 
the 5th of September, 1774, after the attempt to 
tax the Colonies without their consent, and the 
perpetration of numerous outrages by the Regulars 
upon the defenceless inhabitants, the sages of 
America came together to consider of their griev- 
ances. Yes ! these walls have echoed the inspiring 
eloquence of Patrick Henry, the greatest orator, 
in the opinion of Jefferson, that ever lived — the 



35 

very man who gave the first impulse to the ball 
of our Revolution! In this consecrated apart- 
ment in which I am now seated, this unrivalled 
eiFort of human intellect was made ! I mark it 
as an epoch of my life. I look upon it as a dis- 
tinguishing favor that I am permitted to tread 
the very floor which Henry trod, and to survey 
the scene which must have been surveyed by him- 
Oh ! that these walls could speak ! That the echo 
which penetrates my soul as I pronounce his 
name, might again reverberate the thunders of his 
eloquence ! But he has long been gathered to his 
fathers, and this Hall, with the ancient State 
House of the ^Old Dominion^'' I fervently hope 
may exist for ages as the monuments of his glory." 
The Convention for a monument to the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence met and held 
their deliberations therein. 

In 1857 the Carpenters' Company, with a rever- 
ence for their old Hall, which so well has stood 
the test of time, withdrew it from the purposes of 
trade and commerce, and devoted it to their own 
use, keeping it freely accessible to those who may 
be disposed to step within its portals, where the 
nation's greatest m6n have stood, or from a rever- 
ence for the spot where Henry, Hancock, and 
Adams inspired the delegates of the Colonies with 
nerve and sinew for the toils of war, and whence 



36 

grew all the thunders of the Revolution, where 
the most momentous issues were decided, and 
historic incidents cluster in profusion around its 
early memories. Still, without desiring to shade 
one feeling of regard for the venerable " Hall of 
Independence," where the indentures which ])ound 
the infant nation to the Mother Country were can- 
celled, and its bonds burst asunder, and from 
whence it stepped forth "free and independent 
among the nations of the earth." Yet, in "Car- 
penters' Hall" was its first breath of existence, 
its first buddings into life, and the first outstretch- 
ing of its strengthening arms, and may it stand 
in its simple grandeur, sacred as the Birthplace of 
the Nation, until the name of Liberty shall be 
lost in the chaos of Time. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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